Boeing 777X delays could push launch nearly a decade late, leaving airlines to recalibrate
September 12, 2025
Boeing’s 777X programme is facing fresh questions about its certification timeline, with CEO Kelly Ortberg recently conceding the aircraft remains behind schedule.
The delay will force early customers to once again push back entry-into-service plans they had originally set years ago.
Ortberg says Boeing is falling behind on 777X certification timeline
As reported by Reuters, during the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference on Thursday, Ortberg said that Boeing is behind schedule on certifying the new 777-9, with “a mountain of work” still to be completed.
According to Ortberg, the planemaker is still officially targeting first deliveries in 2026. Still, that goal already represents a delay of more than six years from Boeing’s original plan to hand over the first aircraft in 2020.
Completing certification is a high priority for Boeing, as “even a minor schedule delay on the 777 programme has a pretty big financial impact.”
In 2020, Boeing posted a $6.5 billion charge for the previous delay on the 777X, with entry into service then pushed out to 2023. In early 2025, Boeing acknowledged an additional $0.9 billion pre-tax charge on the 777X programme tied to higher estimated labour costs.
The Boeing 777X programme still faces complex regulatory hurdles for certification
The latest slip follows a series of technical and regulatory hurdles that have repeatedly reset the schedule. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a more cautious approach to certification following the 737 MAX crisis, extending the test campaign.
Boeing also grounded its four-aircraft 777X test fleet in August 2024 after finding cracks in a key engine thrust link, part of the structure that connects the GE9X engines to the wing. The planemaker resumed flights in January 2025 after design modifications.
The FAA recently cleared Boeing to begin Phase 2D community noise testing. Even so, several other key test regimes – including lightning strike and electromagnetic interference resilience, extended-operations (ETOPS) trials, and FAA-conducted flight evaluations – still lie ahead.
The 777-9’s entry into service could drift into 2027, even if Boeing has not formally shifted its target.
Boeing 777X launch customers keep rewriting their schedules
The cascading delays have forced launch customers to repeatedly overhaul their fleet plans.
Lufthansa was announced as the launch operator when it ordered 20 aircraft in 2013, initially planning to debut the 777-9 in 2020. As delays accumulated, the German carrier postponed introduction to 2022, then 2024, and is now preparing for first delivery in 2026.
Lufthansa has designed its new Allegris cabin around the 777-9, but the cabin is instead debuting first on refurbished A350s and 747-8s while it waits.
Emirates, the largest 777X customer with 115 orders, had originally expected to take its first aircraft in 2020 and launch it to London and Frankfurt that year.
President Sir Tim Clark has repeatedly criticised the programme’s pace, warning of knock-on impacts to fleet renewal. Emirates most recently indicated it now expects its first 777-9s in late 2026 or early 2027, with A350-900s arriving first to fill the gap.
Qatar Airways also had planned a 2022 launch for its 777-9s, ordering 50 in 2013. Delivery expectations have slipped to end-2026 or 2027. The airline has said it will introduce its new first class product on the type — whenever it arrives.
Cathay Pacific, which ordered 21 aircraft, had initially targeted mid-decade delivery before shifting to early 2027. The Hong Kong carrier underscored that it still has confidence in the programme and recently added 14 more 777-9s, a sign it is building its long-haul recovery strategy around the type despite the uncertainty.
Next-gen widebody is nearly a decade late, with no slack left
The Boeing 777X’s extended delays, which now threaten to see the type’s first delivery almost a decade late, have created operational and financial ripple effects across Boeing’s order book.
Carriers have had to extend the life of older 777-300ERs and defer retirements, while Boeing has carried a multi-billion-dollar charge on the programme over the past five years.
Ortberg said Boeing is working closely with the FAA to accelerate progress, but acknowledged “there is still substantial work ahead” before certification.
With the test programme only now regaining momentum and regulators scrutinising every step, airlines are privately preparing for the possibility of yet another schedule slip into 2027.
